The Hairy Bikers: Mums Know Best - TV review

For two men who aren't particularly good at cooking, The Hairy Bikers have carved out a remarkably successful career as celebrity chefs.

Former TV production workers Dave Myers and Si King have been household names for the best part of a decade. They are the one-time backroom boys who made the transition from being behind the camera to taking centre stage.

Were it not for the unfortunate demise of Two Fat Ladies, Dave and Si would probably still be hoisting lighting rigs, researching programmes for other presenters or driving the truck.

The truth is, The Hairy Bikers are not really about gastronomy – serious enthusiasts tune in to Master Chef and Great British Menu when they want their fix of food porn.

The raison d'etre of Si and Dave is being thoroughly decent blokes, the sort you'd welcome round for tea.

Last night's programme featured pretty basic stuff: fish'n'chips, fairy cakes, fudge and such like – nothing that might trouble any half-decent home cook.

A rabbit and shin beef pie was the most daring anybody got. More importantly, it featured lots of middle-aged moms and dads, the sort of people who've got an hour to spare at 7pm on a Monday night, when the kids are doing their homework.

So millions around the UK will have tuned in to watch ordinary people just like them, cooking dishes that their mothers taught them.

We saw Si eaten anything put in front of him, declaring: 'Wow', 'Oh that's mega,' 'Amazing', 'It's a good 'un' and similar platitudes, as flaky pastry fell into his greying beard.

Dave's not inconsiderable girth expanded every further as he as he sloshed down bowls of spicy carrot and parsnip soup and baked blueberry cheesecake on a visit to a WI food fayre.

The idea of last night's first-in-six-episodes of Mum's Know Best was a celebration of most enduring home-cooking techniques.

They began a tour of the nation in search of family recipes that have been passed down through generations, but are now in danger of being lost.

The genius of Hairy Bikers, of course, is that they make viewers feel good about themselves. We can all look at the TV, watching mothers from Scotland making cheese pies or samosas, and think to ourselves: 'Hmm, that's nothing, my Shropshire Fidgit Pie knocks the socks off that rumpy pumpy soup.' Or, alternatively, 'My Black Country-style faggots, or grey pies and bacon are a million times tasiter than Maureen's cheese flan'.

The genius of Mums Know Best was in celebrating the ordinary and unspectacular. Alma's chocolate cake, for instance, was elevated to new heights.

The programme was not without it faults, however. There seemed little point in the format being stretched to an hour, when it could have easily been condensed into half that time.

Si and Dave weren't reinventing the wheel or offering Professor Brian Cox-esque insights into unfathomable mysteries. They were brushing pastry cases with egg, making steak and kidney pies, eating fairy cakes and cracking Christmas cracker jokes.

By the time the clock had gone past 45 minutes, it had morphed from turn-on TV to turn-off TV. Dave made some more pastry, Si acted like an even bigger buffoon, middle aged ladies cheered as suet pastry was piled onto a plate. Mum's may know best, but they also know went to call it a day – and last night's programme went on for much too long.

Andy Richardson